Firing mechanism for guns.



No. 895,947. PATBNTED AUG. 11, 1908.

11111111; MBGHANISM F011 GUNS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 16, 1907.

SSHEETS-SHEET 1.

Arme/vers! ."No. 895,947. I PATENTED AUG. 11, 1908. l l 111.1311111111111. y f FIRING MEGHANISM PoR GUNS.

APPLICATION FILED .1111.116 1907. I

` j SHEETS-SHEET z.V

No.. 895,947. PATBNTED AUG. 11, 1908.

J. R. BLOGKER. f

FIR'INGMBGHANISM POR GUNS.

APPLICATION FILED JULjl, 1901. l

v ATTORNEYS! 1 a SHEETS-SHEETS.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN RUFUS BLOOKER, OF AUSTIN, TEXAS.

FEELING- MECHANISM FOR GUNS.

iva-895,947.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 11, 1908.

Appiieation mea July 16, 1907. serial No. 383,992.

particular object being to remploy a single trigger and parts associated therewith, so arranged that the operator may have completevcontrol over the order in which'the barrels are successively discharged and in which any predetermined order may be changed at will without the necessity for opening or breaking the gun.

By use of my invention as applied to a double-barrel shotgun a sportsman may, by predetermined arrangement of the parts, fire iirst the right barrel and neXt the left barrel by simply pulling the trigger twice in succession, and byV another predetermined arrangement of the parts, made at will and almost instantly, he can fire first the left barrel and then the right barrel by merely pulling the trigger twice in succession.

In order to make clear the structure and operation of the parts, it may be well to bear in mind that a double-barrel shotgunA may be relative to its loading in any onel of several different conditions. For instance, both barrels may be loaded, the right-barrel may be dischargedl leaving the left barrel only as loaded, .the left barrel alone may be discharged leaving the right barrel only as loaded, or both barrels may be discharged. Again a sportsman handling the gun may desire to re the barrels in succession, firstl the right and thenthe left, or Erst the left and then the right, or he may desire to iire either the right or the left barrel alone, the other barrel having already been fired, or having both barrels loaded he may desire to re one barrel only.

Reference is to be had to the accompany-A ing drawings forming a part of this specification, in which similar. characters of reference indicate corresponding parts inl all the figures.

Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevation, partly-in section, showing a double-barrel shotgun as viewed yfrom the left-hand side of the gun, a portion of the handle of the gun being broken away, this view showing the parts as arranged'when the gun is ready to be fired, so that if the trigger be pulled twice in succession, the right barrel willlfirst be iired and this will be followed by the discharge of the left barrel Fig. 2 is a view from the opposite or right side of the gun, the parts re-V maining in the position just mentioned; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view showing the gun as partly broken away, the principal parts constituting the firing mechanism being viewed from the left of the gun and in such position left barrel, the right barrel having already been iired; Fig. 4 is a view somewhat similar to Fig. 1, but showing the handfcontrolled switch as moved backwardly, so that pulling the trigger twice'in succession will iire the barrels -successively in the order left, right, this view further showing the safety catch as moved backward so as to prevent the trigger from being pulled and consequently to temporarily prevent the gun from being discharged Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view showcoy that pulling the trigger will discharge the v ing the parts as viewed from the right side of the gun and arranged to lire the barrels in the order left, right, the left barrel, however,

having already been discharged so that a single pull of the trigger must discharge the right barrel Fig. 6 is a Jfragmentary section upon the line 6 6 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrow and showing the relative arrangement of the sears, sea'r levers and parts immediately associated therewith; Fig.

7 is an enlarged perspectiveoi the cam used for holding the manually operated switch in either of its two positions; and Fig. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevation showing the rear ortion of the manually-operated switch as held in one of its positions by aid of the cam.

A p ortionof the left barrel is shown at 9 and a portion of the right barrel at 10, a casing at 11 and recoil lugs integral with this casing at 12. A handle is shown fragmentarily at 13 and at its top and bottom areframeY ribs 14, 15. A trigger guard is shown at 16. Hammers 17 are concealed within the casing, the gun in this instance being of the socalled hammerless type. Sears are shown at 18, 19. The hammers and sears are in thisl instance shown as they appear in the ordinary Remington doublebarrel shotgun and need no detail description. Suffice it to` say that the right-hand sear 19 and the left-hand sear 18 control the release of the respective hammers associated los with these sears, thereby causing the discharge of the respective right and left barrels.

My invention therefore begins with the rearmost ends of the sears, my purpose, incidental to the control by the operator over the discharging of the barrels, being incidentally to enable him to raise the sears 18, 19 in any order he chooses.

A break lever 20 is provided with a bearing 21 (see Figs. 5, 6) whereby it is j ournaled in position upon the casing 11, this break lever and parts controllable by it'being each of the usual pattern, found, for instance, upon the well-known Remington gun, and the lever 20 is normally held in a central position by a leaf spring 22 also of well-known construction.

A safety slide 23 is milled upon its upper surface and is provided with depending lugs 24 26 the luO 24 havin(r a sto a in 25 )roa y b b l l jecting laterally from it. Both of these lugs project downwardly through a slot 27.` A eaf spring 28, secured against the under side of the frame rib 14, engages the sto a pin 25 and not only holds the safety slide 23 in either of its two extreme positions, but also presses this slide firmly downward and holds it steadily in position.

A fork 29 is secured rigidly upon the frame rib 15. Pivoted within this fork by means of a pin 30, and free to rock, is a safety lever 31. A safety dolly 32, having substantially the form of a flat bar, is connected by a pivot pin 33 with the safety lever 31. This safety dolly is pushed backward, as in hammerless guns heretofore used by the ordinary thrust rod (not shown) housed within the casing 11 and operated by opening and closing the gun. This rearward movement of the dolly, inci- -dental to opening the gun (for instance in loading), causes the lower end or toeof the lever 31 to project forward over the trigger so that the latter can not be pulled backward so as to fire the gun. The upper end of the safety lever 31 is provided with a head 34 which )rejects intermediate of the lugs 24,

Willen the safety slide 23 is moved backward, as in Fig. 4, the lower end of the safety lever 31 is forced forward, and vice versa, when the slide 23 is moved forward the lower end of the safety lever 31 is moved rearwardly.

A brace bolt 35 and a lug 36 connect together the upper frame rib 14 and the lower frame rib 15. A plate 37, slightly curved, is provided with a milled head 38 whereby it may be moved forward or backward a slight distance. For this purpose the plate 37 is provided with a slot 39 and through this slot a screw 40 extends into the frame rib 15. The operator, by placing his thumb u )on the head 38 may move the plate 37 eit 1er forward or backward. This plate and parts carried by it I designate as a manually operated switch.

Af trigger is shown at 41 and is mounted integrally upon a trigger plate 42, the latter being pivoted upon a in 443 and free to rock when the trigger is pul ed. Lugs 43a support the pivot pin 43 and thus serve as a mounting for one end of the trigger plate.

Mounted centrally u on the plate 37 and integral therewith is a p ate 44 provided with a vertical slot 45 and further provided with another slot 46 the latter terminating at its top in an angle 47. A leaf spring 48 is connected by a pivot 49 with an eccentric 51, the latter having lugs 50 integral therewith and disposed u )on its opposite sides (see Figs. 7 and 8). s the spring 4 8 )resses upward, the eccentric 51 tends to ho d the plate 44, and consequently the plate 37, in their eX- treme forward or backward positions, as the case may be, so that when the plate 37 is moved either forward or backward, it remains firmly in position until the operator purposely moves thehead 38.

Sear lev'ers are shown at 52, 53 and are used for lifting the respective sears 18, 19. The scar lever 52 is provided with two hooks 54, 55 integral therewith and extending upwardly therefrom. Similarly the scar lever 53 is provided with hooks 56,57, extending upwardly from it and integral with it. The trigger lever 42 is provided with a plate 5 8 integral therewith and extending upwardly from the rear thereof. This plate 58 extends through the dolly 32, the latter being slotted for the pur Jose, and moves upwardly a slight distance wlhene'ver the trigger 41 is aullcd, provided, of course, that the safety slide 23 is 1n its forward position, as indicated in Fig.

Moving the safety slide 23 to its rearmost position (see Fig. 4) causes the lower end of the safety lever 31 to advance and project over the portion of the trigger lever. This prevents the trigger from being pulled. The plate 58 carries four hooks 59, 60, 61, 62 (see Figs. 4 and 5)these hooks being pivoted upon it. The hooks, 5.9, 62 are integral with each other and have substantially the form.

of an inverted U. Similarly the hooks 60, 61 are integral with each other and have the form of an inverted U. The hooks 59, 6l), 61, 62 are respectively disposed adjacent to the hooks 54, 55, 56, 57 carried by the scar levers.

`A leaf spring 63 is secured to the )late 58 and presses the hooks 60, 61 toward t 1e rear.

A wire spring 64 is connected with thc lug 36 and presses downwardly against the trigger plate so as to holdthe latter, and consequently the trigger, in their respective normal ositions.

A atch 65 is pivotally mounted upon the lug 36 and is pressed upwardly byv a leaf spring 66. This latch extends rearwardly from the lug 36 and is provided with a shoulder 67 which is adapted to lodge against a stop pin 68 mounted upon the fork 29. A

' reason that the vpin 69 is restrained bythe latch 65 (see Fig'. 2). j

' should be remembered that the hooks60, 61

l pin 69 (see Fig. 5)"mun'ted upon thel hook 61 and extending laterally therefrom, projects over a portion of the latch 65. The ,purpose into engagement' with the hook 56.

' ofthe latch 65 is, to engage the pin 69 and thus .at times to prevent the hook 6,1'from moving .The

' hook 59 (see Fi 4) is rovided with a in 7o which projects atera y through the s ot 45 in the plate 44 and thus enables the hook 49 to be rocked-whenever the plate 37 is moved by'aid of the head 38.

' The operation of my deviceis as follows: 1

v will assume that both barrels of the gun are f loaded, and that the safetyr slide 23 is in its forward position or shooting position, and

I .that the operator desires. to discharge them hepulls the trigger.

in the order right, left.. He moves the head v'38 forward, as indicated in Figs. 1 and- 3. Now, having all ofthe parts in their 'respective positions, as indicated in Figs.` 1 and 3, Nothing occurs to'raise the sear lever 52 and consequently the left barrel of thegun can not be fired at this time.

by the head This is because the hooks 59, 60 (see Fig. 1) are out of engagement with the hooks 54, 55. The pin`70 extending through the slot 45 and the manually-operated switch (controllable 38) being forward, the hook 59 can not possibly touch the hook '54. Neither can "the hook 60 engage the hook 55 forthe are integral and consequently whatever willA Consequently,

. j causes the trigger lever and the plate 58 to rise, the hook 62 in carrying up its mating hook 57 raises the sear lever 53 and trips the sear 19, Lcausing theright-hand barrel 1() to be discharged. The movement of the trigger necessary to accomplish this resultin raising the plate 58` causes the latch'65 to release the pin 69 for the reason thatthe shoulder 67 of the latch is unable to follow and lodges against the stop pin 68, and thelatch is unable to rise higher, so that the pin 69 now clears the latch and moves to a point a little higher than the highest portion of the same. When, however, the pressure of the finger upon the trigger is relaxed, the spring 64 moves the trigger lever back into its normal position andthe two hooks 60, 61, being pressed rearwardly by the leaf spring 63, now engage the two hooks 55, 56. The latch 65 is unable to prevent this movement of the hooks just mentioned, for the reason that the 'pin 69 in descending'now lodges upon a lug 65a and consequently can not assume the po- ]n this connection it` sit-ion,- `relatively to the latch'65, that it has in Fig. 2. The pin 69 thus carries the latch' 65 downwardly. The right barrel having been discharged as above described, the op erator nowy pulls the trigger again. The hooks 60, 61 being now in engagement ,with

the hooks 55, 56, both sear levers 52, 53 are raised, and, consequently, both sears 18, 19, are tripped. Since, however, the rightbarrel is already empty, the left-barrel only isV fired. Such-being the case, it follows that with the parts arranged as indicated in Figs.

y1 and 2, two successive pulls of the trigger result in discharging first the right barrel and then the left barrel. Suppose, now, that both .barrels are loaded and that the operator wishes to put the gun in such condition that by pulling thevtrigger twice in succes-l sion, first the left barrel and next theright barrel will be fired. The operator places his thumb upon the head 38 and forces it toward the rear of the gun. 1n doing this the plate 44 (seev Fig. 8) :turns the cam 51 slightly in av ,clockwisedirection, according to this figure, the lugs 50 being thrown to the right. The

pin 7 0 being encompassed within the slot 45 is also, by this movement, moved towardthe reary of the gun. Hence, the hook 59 carrying the pin 70 is moved toward the rear ofthe gun, and as the hook 59 is integral withthe hook 62 the hook 59 is broughtv into 'engagement with the hook 54, while at the same instant the hook 62 is moved out of engagesl ment with its mating hook 57. The trigger is nowk pulled. The right sear 19 can not be raised for. the reason that the hooks 61, 62 are out of engagement with the hooks 56, 57, yet the hook 59 is in engagement with the hook 54 (see Fig. 4). Hence, the pulling of the trigger causes the hook 59 to lift the hook 54, raise the sear lever 52 and trip the scar 18, thus discharging the left barrel. The upward movement of the pin 69 causes it to rise above-the latch 65, and this allows the y hooks 60, 61-to swing back into engagement with the hooks 55, 56. Another pull of the trigger causes the two hooks last mentioned to be raised, thus raising both sear levers and tripping both sears, the right barrel only being the one now fired, owing to the fact that the left barrel is empty.

It can never happen that both barrels will be fired at the same time, forA the reason that when both barrels are loaded and the safety slide is in position for shooting, it is impossible to raise both sear levers at the same instant. 1n firing, the two sear levers are pulled, first one alone, and then both together. After the last barrel is fired it is true that the hooks 60, 61 are both left in engagement with the mating hooks controlling the sear'levers, but this fact does not enable both sear levers to be raised at once. The actV of opening the gun for the vpurpose of reloading must necessarily take place before the gun can be lired again, and this act of opening the gun causes the safety dolly 32 to be pushed to the rear as in other double guns of the hammerless type, and this movement of the dolly causes the lower end of the safety lever 31 to press forward and to disengage both of the hooks 60, 62. This movement of the safety lever shifts the safety slide 23 to the rear and disengags the hooks 60, 61 from these mating hooks. N ow, when the safety slide is next moved by hand toward the front for the purpose of placing the gun in condition to lire, the immediate rengagement of the hooks 60, 62 with their mating hooks is prevented by the action of the latch 65a and pin 69 as above described. The trigger being now pulled, neither of the hooks 6() or 62 can have any effect upon either of the sear levers, and the result is that when the trigger is pulled, the gun is ired independently of the action of the hooks 60 and 62 so that the simultaneous discharge of both barrels, due to any disturbing action at this juncture, by the hooks 60 or 62, is effectively prevented. Y

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new 'and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. ln a iire arm, the combination of a plurality of barrels, a single trigger, a plate movable by said trigger, a pair of hooks connected `rigidly together and pivotally mounted upon said plate, a second pair of hooks connected rigidly together and pivotally mounted upon said plate, said second pair of hooks being movable independently of. said firstmentioned pair of hooks, a plurality of sears, a sear lever for each sear, said sear lever being provided with two hooks adapted to be engaged respectively by one hook of `each pair, and means controllable by the operator for bringing one hook of each pair successively into engagement with its corresponding hook upon said sear lever so as to pull the said sear levers in a predetermined order.

2. The combination ol a pair of' sear levers, each providedwith two hooks, a trigger provided with a portion disposed intermediate said scar levers, hooks arranged in pairs and pivotally mounted upon said portion of said trigger, the hooks of' each pair being rigid in relation to each other, and means controllable by the operator for moving said hooks mounted upon said portion of said trigger in a predeterniined order of succession for the f purpose of enabling said trigger to actuatc said sear levers in a predetermined order. 3. In `a lire arm, the combination of a trigger provided with an extending portion, hooks pivotally mounted upon said extending portion, a Sear lever provided with hooks to be engaged by said last-mentioned hooks, a slidable member for changing the relative position of one of said hooks mounted upon said portion of said trigger, said slidable member being provided with an opening, a cam having a portion disposed within said opening, and a spring connected with said cam for holding said slide temporarily in a predetermined position.

In testimony whereof I have signed. vmy name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN RUFIIS BLOCKER.

Witnesses: y A. J.'BYAs,

W. H. CULLEN. 

